The incident occurred on a road near the town of Cukurca, at the border with Iraq, as the soldiers were returning from a patrol mission.

Landmines have become a hallmark of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which notably stepped up attacks this year.

The army has launched a large-scale crackdown against the PKK in the southeast and amassed troops on the border with northern Iraq, where the rebels take refuge.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organisation by Ankara and much of the international community, took up arms for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast in 1984. The conflict has claimed more than 37,000 lives.